So Saturday and Sunday I went to an Intro to Buddhism class near Boudha Stupa. The class was dedicated to the terms and simple ideas of Buddhism. It was essentially a class on terminology. So, although I did not come out of the class fully enlightened and aware of the scope of the universe and my place within it's cycle, I had a good time.
Things here in Nepal are finally starting to pick up their pace. When working here I constantly feel like I have accomplished nothing (I am pretty sure I haven't), but Mike and all the staff seem to think what I am doing is great.
It is a challenge because I keep trying to push things forward, and then after I have made progress, I find out that I need to pull back and start again, from a different angle, with different language, or in a completely different medium. Here in Nepal people will yes you to death, do things the way they need to be done while you are watching them, and then instantly slip back into the Nepali way as soon as you are not watching.
I am not saying that the Nepali way is bad, or inefficient. It is just that Citta is a multinational charity that has donors and Boards in many different countries. Most of the money comes from the western world, and because of that the methods that the local projects use need to be compatible with western ideas, communication, and transparency. Keeping information in a paper log book is fine, if you only need to record the information and deal with it locally. But the information about the Hospital budgets, expenses, Volunteer Data, and international orders needs to be able to be communicated in a clear and efficient manner to the US, Germany, the UK, and any other places where people donate their time or money to Citta.
Enough ranting about work. Last night Michael and I went to the Reggae Bar to see some Nepali friends that work there. We sat in our usual table over looking Thamel, far enough from the stage so we could talk. The Nepali cover band was great as always, and we had a few drinks and settled in. At about 10PM the band announces it is going to hand off the stage to another band. This alone was weird, but what made it even weirder was the band that took the stage was a bunch of white guys. Michael and I thought we were in for a treat.
It was not to be however because this new band of white guys immediately started singing the worst cover of "You ain't nothing but a hound dog" I have ever heard. This was the type of band you might find in a lounge in an airport Motel 6. So we started trying to guess where these guys were from. Michael took a shot in the dark and stated that they must be from Denmark. It seemed to make sense, but I decided to apply a little bit of critical thinking to the problem and asked myself a few questions. Where in the world is there a country of white people obsessed with American Culture, obsessed with music, and about 50 years behind the rest of the western world culturally. After asking myself these questions I came up with the only answer that made sense to me. Norway.
So we begin asking the staff where the band is from and no one has any clue. We had given up finding out until a girl with a HEAVY Irish accent comes up to the table and asks us if we want to sign a petition that will be sent to the government in an attempt to lift the 11pm forced closing of bars. We got to talking with her a little, and to our surprise she was a friend of the band, and from Denmark! She claimed the Irish accent was because her best friend was Irish, but I still don't believe she was from Denmark.
Anyway we asked her if the band was from Denmark, and to Mike's dismay they were not. They were however from Norway! After much celebration and libations we signed the petition (twice, Nancy Lanigan and Duane Reade also want the bars open later) and had a rather pleasant night.
Motodaai Out.
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